1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to gaming systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a bonus game in addition to the base poker game, where the bonus game is displayed as a bonus match card.
2. The Prior Art
Fixed pool games are well known, often forming the basis of many games used by many state and private lotteries. A fixed pool game is one in which a specified amount of money or prizes (the prizes having calculable monetary equivalents) are distributed into a set of individually purchasable and winnable units, where each individual unit has a known cost, and where the set further includes purchasable units having no prize. Thus, the total amount of prizes, the prize distribution (i.e., the number of prizes at each level), and the total return if all individually purchasable units are sold are known at the game's outset.
The individually purchasable units are typically generated and distributed as tickets. The two most common form of tickets are pull tab tickets, called pulltabs, and scratch-off tickets, called scratchers. Pull tab tickets are typically constructed from paper of various thickness, having two layers. The first layer has some type of indication of the purchasers' winnings, if any, and the second layer covers the first. The second layer is typically glued to the first layer around three edges, covering the results. The fourth edge typically has a small tab, allowing the purchaser to grab hold of it. The tab, upon being pulled, pulls the layers apart and reveals the purchasers' winnings, if any. Scratchers use an opaque material that covers portions of the ticket, where the covered portions have the predetermined results on them. The purchaser scrapes off the opaque material, revealing any winnings.
The distribution of the total winnings, coupled with the cost of each individually purchasable unit, is determined by those making up the game. The exact mechanics and mathematics of each game pool depends on the goals of the issuer, including the target play audience (how much to charge per purchasable unit or ticket or play), the desired return on investment, and size of the pool, as well as other considerations as are well known in the art. The tickets (individually purchasable units) for the entire game are then printed and distributed, usually organized into decks with different decks sold to different locations. Players, by purchasing a ticket, are buying one individually purchasable unit from the overall ticket or game event pool.
This is may be referred to as a fixed-pool lottery, meaning there is a fixed pool of tickets (or results) having a predetermined number of winners and losers, and a purchaser takes a chance on getting a winning result by entering the “lottery”, meaning taking the chance they will by a winning ticket from the pool.
To make the results more interesting to a player, fixed-pool lottery based games have been recently been displayed in many ways. One particular representation is as a poker hand, attempting to mimic actual poker play.
The player bets a certain amount to play the game. This corresponds to an individually purchasable unit (note that different betting amounts may participate in different fixed-pool lotteries) for the lottery being used. The game will typically get the result of a random drawing from a central server or location having several operating pools. The result is sent back to the game machine. The game machine then represents the results in as a game.
Up to the present time, game machines using fixed-pool lotteries which have attempted to represent the predetermined winning amount by mimicking poker play have had significant limitations. In particular, the prior art machines would present the player with a 5 cards (mimicking a hand), and the player would indicate which cards to hold, where any not held are discarded. If the player is either not a good poker player or is going for long odds, if is likely they will discard cards that were needed to make up the predetermined winning hand.
For example, suppose the predetermined award required the player to end up with a full house and the player's initial hand had two pair. If the player discards one from pair, leaving three unrelated cards, a full house cannot be created with the new draw. The prior art game overrides the player's hold choices and discards the “correct” cards, resulting in a new hand having a full house.
The action of overriding a player's choices completely ruins the intended purpose of the game, which is to produced the illusion of true poker play. Thus, there is a need to have a game, based on the use of fixed-pool lotteries, that can better mimic true poker play from a player's perspective.
Further, it has been discovered that players using tradition Nevada-style poker machines, where game results are not predetermined but are based on a random result for each game, want the extra excitement of a bonus round that fits the poker theme of the game more closely than extraneous bonus style play (i.e., apparently unrelated screens having bonus amounts, or secondary games used for bonus plays that are not tightly coupled with the primary poker game).